27 Apr

Men’s Golf claims fifth Big 12 Championship crown

The No. 18 Texas Men's Golf team fought off a one-stroke deficit after 54 holes to claim the 2014 Big 12 Conference Championship crown on Sunday afternoon at Whispering Pines Golf Club. Fueled by even-par performances in the final round by junior Brax McCarthy and freshman Gavin Hall, the Longhorns (287-285-295-291=1158, +6) fired a 3-over-par 291 to top the second-place Texas Tech Red Raiders (286-291-289-295=1161) by three strokes.

The win marks the Longhorns' second-consecutive and fifth overall Big 12 Championship title. Texas has previously finished runner-up at Whispering Pines in both 2008 and 2012. In total, Texas has claimed 44 conference championships since 1927.

Men's Golf becomes the sixth University of Texas program to capture a Big 12 Conference championship during the 2013-14 athletics season, joining Volleyball, Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving, Women's Indoor Track and Field and Men's Tennis.

Freshman Beau Hossler led the Longhorns over the 72-hole championship with a tie for third place at even-par 288 (72-69-73-74). It marks Hossler's second-straight top-three finish of the season after previously recording a career-best tie for third place at the Western Intercollegiate (April 12-13).

Senior Toni Hakula (71-70-76-73=290) finished two strokes behind Hossler to tie for fifth overall. McCarthy (73-76-72-72) and fellow junior Kramer Hickok (71-70-74-78) also notched a pair of top-10 finishes by tying for ninth place at 5-over 293. Hall (73-76-76-72=297) rounded out the Texas squad in a tie for 21st place while making his Big 12 Championship debut along with Hossler and McCarthy.

Next up, Texas will compete in one of six NCAA Regional Championship events from May 15-17 at a site to be announced Monday, May 5 at 9 a.m. Central on Golf Channel.

Texas Head Coach John FieldsOn what winning the Big 12 Championship means to the program: "This was hard fought. This whole entire season has been a mixed bag for us in regards to overcoming a lot of obstacles. We had Kramer's (right wrist) injury to begin the year, and our guys have persevered and worked hard. I'm super excited for them. I'm excited for our program. Now we'll enjoy this for a few minutes and then we'll get ready for the NCAA Regional and NCAA Championship."

Texas freshman Beau HosslerOn what winning the Big 12 Championship means to both him and the program: "I've been working on the right things for awhile now – changed up my practice schedule a little bit to focus on getting better at the things I needed to improve. It's come a long way, it had been frustrating because I wasn't seeing results until the last three or four weeks. I'm enjoying playing for this team because I'm around a lot of really competitive guys, and that's only helped me improve as a player. It's nice to get (a win) under our belts and prove we can do it."

Part-time journalist turned full-time blogger, Brian is an online staff writer at Horns Illustrated and serves as senior staff writer for digital marketing agency Speak Social. Brian currently resides in Austin and you can read his blog at the following address: briankendall.wordpress.com